ERNEST L. SAVAGE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The appellate court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief because the petition failed to allege indigency, a necessary prerequisite for the right to court-appointed counsel.
Appellant sought to vacate two criminal convictions, alleging he was not appointed counsel and was unaware of his rights when pleading guilty. The tri…
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This appeal is from an order rendered by the Court of Record of Escambia County denying appellant’s petition for post conviction relief filed pursuant to the provisions of Criminal Procedure Rule No. 1, 31 F.S.A.
The petition filed by appellant prays for an order vacating and setting aside two judgments of conviction and sentence previously rendered by the Court of Record of Escambia County. The first judgment assaulted was rendered on January 29, 1960, pursuant to which appellant was sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison for a term of six months to five years. The second judgment was rendered on December 16, 1960, by which appellant was sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison for a period of five years, which sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the sentence then being served by appellant under his previous conviction.
By his motion for relief filed April 22, 1963, appellant alleges that at the time of his arraignment on each of the informa-tions charging him with the criminal offenses for which he was adjudged guilty, he was not versed in criminal proceedings and in each instance the trial judge failed to appoint counsel to assist him in his defense. It is alleged that as a result appellant plead guilty to each of the charges resulting in the imposition of the sentences which he now seeks to have set aside and declared void. Petitioner alleges that failure of the trial judge to appoint counsel to represent him violated his constitutional right to due process of law under the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The order appealed recites that having considered the petition filed by appellant and the record of each prosecution out of which the judgments of conviction arose the court finds that appellant waived his right to the appointment of counsel in his behalf and voluntarily plead guilty to the offense for which he was adjudged guilty *568and sentenced, and that appellant is therefore not entitled to the relief requested by his petition. The prayer to vacate and set aside the judgments was accordingly denied.
Appellant’s right to relief is premised upon the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States rendered in the Gideon case,1 wherein it is held that the right of an indigent defendant charged with the commission of a felony to court appointed counsel is a fundamental safeguard guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution, unless such right is intelligently and understandingly waived. The order appealed makes no finding nor conclusion as to whether appellant, at the time of his arraignment and plea of guilty, intelligently and understandingly waived his right to court appointed counsel. Unless this fact is established to the satisfaction of the trial judge, the waiver of counsel by one charged with a felony would not in itself be sufficient to deny relief under the Gideon decision. Because of the insufficiency of the order appealed, it would ordinarily be necessary that this case be returned to the trial court for further proceedings and the taking of evidence on the question of waiver. However, because of the matters and things hereinafter discussed, such action will not be necessary in this case.
An examination of the petition for relief filed by appellant contains no allegation that at the time he was charged, arraigned and plead guilty to the two criminal offenses for which he was sentenced, he was indigent or otherwise without monetary means of employing counsel to assist in his defense. A showing of indigency on the part of one charged with the commission of a felony is a necessary prerequisite to the right to court appointed counsel. Such right does not extend to a person financially able to employ his own counsel. Since the petition filed by appellant is legally insufficient to state a prima facie case entitling appellant to relief under the Gideon decision, the trial judge cannot be held in error for having denied the relief prayed.
Appellant contends that this court should not consider the insufficiency of his petition regarding the issue of indigency because the trial court based its order of dismissal on the ground that appellant waived the right to counsel at the time of his arraignment. All orders, judgments and decrees rendered by trial courts reach the appellate court clothed with a presumption of correctness.2 In order to entitle an appellant to a reversal, the burden rests upon him to clearly demonstrate harmful error arising from some action of the trial judge in the proceedings, resulting in the order, judgment or decree appealed. If a trial judge’s order, judgment or decree is sustainable under any theory revealed by the record on appeal, notwithstanding that it may have been bottomed on an erroneous theory,3 an erroneous reason,4 or an erroneous ground,5 the order, judgment or decree will be affirmed.
For the reasons and upon the authorities above cited, the order appealed is affirmed.
CARROLL, DONALD K., Acting C. J., and RAWLS, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (54 total)
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King v. State, 157 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963)…rior to the time it was rendered. See also the decision of the Florida courts in Roy v. Wainwright, supra; Peterson v. Wainwright, Fla.1963, 155 So. 2d 542; Alford v. Wainwright, Fla.1963, 153 So. 2d 817; 156 So. 2d 1; Savage v. State, Fla.App.1963, 156 So. 2d 566; Mitchell v. Wainwright, Fla.1963, 155 So. 2d 863.…
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Onelio Garcia Rodriquez v. State, 189 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966)…e should interpret the evidence and all reasonable inferences and deductions capable of being drawn therefrom in a light most favorable to sustain these conclusions. See: Cameron v. State, Fla.App.1959, 112 So. 2d 864; Savage v. State, Fla.App.1963, 156 So. 2d 566, 1959. In so doing, if the record reveals that the facts known to the arresting officers before their entry are not inconsistent with a good faith belief on their part that compliance with § 901.19(1) Fla.Stat., F.S.A., is excused, their failure to…
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Dykes v. State, 162 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964)…rinciple that the right to counsel can be waived only if the waiver is competently and intelligently waived, has been recognized in several recent decisions of the appellate courts in Florida. This court recognized that principle in Savage v. State, 156 So. 2d 566 (1963), Mullins v. State, 157 So. 2d 701 (1963), and Conley v. State, 160 So. 2d 752. The District Court of Appeal, Second District of Florida, recognized the said principle in King v. State, 157 So. 2d 440 (1963) and Keur v. State, 160 So. 2d 546.…
Previewing 3 of 54 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (U.S. 1963)
- Maxine Florence Sedell (now Maxine Sedell White) v. Sedell, 100 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 1st DCA 1958)
- Escarra v. Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., 131 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 1961)
- Hernandez v. State (Fla. 3d DCA 2024)
- Berkman v. Miami Nat'l Bank, 143 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962)
- Siesta Props., Inc. v. Hart, 122 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960)
- Starr v. Smith, 77 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 1955)